Yahoo Web Search

Warren Buffett became the controlling shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway in the mid-1960s and began a progressive strategy of diverting cash flows from the core business into other investments. As of May 2022, Berkshire Hathaway had a market capitalization of close to $700 billion, making it one of the largest publicly traded companies worldwide. 1

Berkshire Hathaway has a long history of operating success and smart investments. The company currently is the seventh-largest public company in the world in terms of market capitalization. 1 Berkshire's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange as two classes— A shares and B shares. Class A shares closed at $471,670 per share on May 17, 2022. 2

The overall return of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock from 1965 to 2021. During this same period, the S&P 500 returned 30,209%. 3

Insurance subsidiaries represent a large part of Berkshire Hathaway's holdings. However, the company also manages hundreds of diverse businesses all over the world. These include Duracell, International Dairy Queen, Pampered Chef, Fruit of the Loom, NetJets, and GEICO, among others. 4

From 1965 to 2021, the compounded annual gain of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock was just shy of twice that of the S&P 500 index. Berkshire’s stock generated an annualized 20.1% over that period, while the S&P 500’s annualized gain was 10.5%. 3

Succession has always been a hot topic for Berkshire. The big question is whether Buffett’s replacement can continue the streak of outperforming the market. This becomes even more pressing when you consider that Buffett turned 91 years old in August of 2021.

In 2010, Buffett announced that he would be succeeded at Berkshire Hathaway by a team comprised of one CEO and two to four investment managers.

In 2011, it was announced that hedge fund managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler would be two of those managers. In 2018, the company put Ajit Jain in charge of all of the insurance operations and made Greg Abel the manager of all other (noninsurance) operations. Both men seemed likely candidates for Buffett's heir apparent.

Warren Buffett is a well-known business owner and investor. He's renowned not only for the jaw-dropping success of Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company of which he's been in charge since 1964. Buffett is also celebrated for his winning approach to investing, which has created great wealth for many shareholders. His frugal lifestyle, despite bein...

Value investing refers to investing in a security with an intrinsic value that's greater than its market value. The idea is that the undervalued security's market value should increase to meet its intrinsic value. Warren Buffett is one example of an investor whose focus on value investing has led to incredible success.

Class A shares of common stock usually give shareholders a greater amount of voting rights than Class B and other classes of stock. They're often held by a company's executives and some members of management so that those in charge of the company can retain control of it in various situations, such as a hostile takeover attempt.